1
Express Yourself

• NWA
• What is the theme of this poem, and how does the
  speaker use figurative and sound devices to
  reinforce this theme?

2

• I'm expressin' with my full capabilities,
• And now I'm livin' in correctional facilities,
• Cause some don't agree with how I do this.
• I get straight, meditate like a Buddhist
• I'm droppin' flavor, my behavior is heriditary,
• But my technique is very necessary.
• Blame it on Ice Cube... Because he says it gets
  funky
• When you got a subject and a predicate.

Simile
Idiom Metaphor Internal Rhyme
Grammar Parts of a Sentence
3

• Add it on a dope beat
• And that'll make you think.
• Some suckaz just tickle me pink
• To my stomach. 'Cause they don't flow like this
  one.
• You know what? I won't hesitate to dis one
• Or two before I'm through.
• So don't try to sing this!
• Some drop science
• While I'm droppin' English.

Alliteration
Simile
Colloquial Language Truncated Word
(disrespect)
Allusion Metaphor Idiom
4

• Even if Yella
• Makes it acapella
• I still express, yo, I don't smoke weed or a
  sess.
• Cause its known to give a brother brain damage.
• And brain damage on the mic don't manage
• Nuthin
• But makin' a sucker and you equal.
• Don't be another sequel. Express yourself.

Assonance
Personification Internal Rhyme
5

• Now, gettin' back to the PG.
• That's program, and it's easy.
• Dre is back. Newjacks, I mean hollow,
• Expressin' ain't their subject
• Because they like to follow
• The words, the style, the trend,
• The records I spin.
• Again and again and again
• Yo, you on the other end.

Colloquial Language
Assonance Consonance
6

• Watch a brother playin' dope rhymes with no help.
• There's no fessin' and guessin
• While I'm expressin myself.
• It's crazy to see people be
• What society wants them to be. But not me!
• Ruthless...
• Is the way to go
• They know.
• Others say rhymes that fail
• To be original.

Internal Rhyme
Near Rhyme
7

• Or they kill where the hip hop starts,
• Forget about the ghetto
• And rap for the pop charts.
• Some musicians curse at home
• But scared to use profanity
• When up on the microphone.
• Yeah, they want reality.
• But you won't hear none.

Assonance Near Rhyme
Sight Rhyme (or Eye Rhyme)
8

• They rather exaggerate, a little fiction.
• Some say no to drugs and take a stand,
• But after the show they go lookin' for the
  dopeman.
• Or they ban my group from the radio.
• Hear NWA and say "Hell no!".
• But you know it ain't all about wealth.
• As long as you make a note to express yourself.

Hyperbole
Assonance Near Rhyme Allusion
Assonance Near Rhyme
9

• Express Yourself...
• From the heart.
• Cause if you wanna start to move up the chart
• Then expression is a big part of it.
• You ain't efficient when you flow
• You ain't swift, movin' like a tortoise.
• Full of rigor mortis.
• There's a little bit more to show
• I got rhymes in my mind, and better like an
  embryo.

Motif Simile Imagery
Simile
10

• Or a lesson - all of 'em expression
• And if you start fessin'
• I got a Smith and Wesson
• For you.
• I might ignore your record
• Because it has no bottom.
• I get loose in the summer. When in spring and
  autumn
• It's Dre on the mic, gettin' physical.
• Doin' the job
• NWA is the lynch mob!

Synecdoche
Metaphor
11

• Yes, I'm a cob?
• But you know you need this.
• And the knowledge is growin
• Just like a fetus, or a tumor.
• But here's the rumor
• Dre is in the neighborhood
• And he's up to no good.
• When I start expressin' myself,
• Yella, slam it!

Metaphor
Simile
12

• Cause if I stay funky like this I'm doin'
  damage.
• Or I'mma be too hyped,
• And need a straight jacket.
• I got knowledge and other suckaers lack it.
• So, when you see Dre, a DJ on the mic,
• Ask what it's like.
• It's like we gettin' hype tonight.
• Cause if I strike
• It ain't for your good health.
• But I won't strike if you just express yourself.

Colloquial Language
Hyperbole